I want to DO something

I have this problem where I don't watch sad/upsetting movies. My friends tease me and we joke about it, but it's not because I'm shallow and don't want to watch anything with substance. It's because those movies affect me too much. The images and ideas stick with me for a long time. There's enough sad stuff in the real world; I don't want to see it for entertainment.

I do the ostrich thing in real life, too. I bury my head in the sand and try to ignore all the bad stuff going on. It's not that I don't care. The problem is that I care too much. I know there's all this really bad stuff going on in the world, and I feel like there's nothing I can do, so I don't even want to know. My main source of news, until recently, has been Comedy Central. And while I would argue that Jon Stewart is a valid source, it's obviously not enough.

I downloaded the Huffington Post app on iTunes a few weeks ago, and I almost wish I hadn't. I feel overwhelmed. The economy, the environment, human rights in China, sex trafficking in India... it's too much. I don't know what to do.

I try to do good in my own little sphere. But what can I do about fracking, or the other big issues facing our society? It seems to me like my options are donating money (which I don't have), volunteering (which I don't have a lot of time for on a regular basis, and try to justify by saying that all the time I spend on work stuff should count towards that), or writing letters/signing petitions. The last one is easy, and something I have done (not enough), and will continue to do more often. But it just doesn't feel like enough. I'm not powerful enough to go up against big corporations and politicians. And what about stuff that's happening in other countries? How am I supposed to change the human rights situation in China?

I know I'm not alone. I was inspired by this article, and was happy to know that others feel the same way. We want change. We want a system that isn't so corrupt. Even though I may disagree with others about what that change should be, I think we can all agree that Washington is seriously messed up. But I'm not in a position to do anything about that. Yes, I vote. But it's not like any of the options are really fantastic. We thought Obama would bring reform, and the lobbyists and corruption got to him, too.

And while I know I'm not alone, I don't think enough people are with me on this, either. I think our society is too comfortable/apathetic to really do what's necessary to take on corporations and politicians. For example, if we don't like the way a corporation is doing something, we should boycott the product, right? But that's difficult and inconvenient, and I guess I just don't have enough faith in my peers that we would actually follow through with something like that.

Reading the news just gives me this overwhelming sense of despair. I'll try to be better about writing more letters and making my voice heard, but I want to do more. I just have no idea what.